


code red // doom days

by rosekings



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, an incredibly sad and angsty scene that i don't ever want to happen in the show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 06:17:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19312336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosekings/pseuds/rosekings
Summary: Dustin begged Steve not to do it. He begged him to the point of tears.





	code red // doom days

**Author's Note:**

> a scene set during season 3, inspired by the two trailers!

“I have to go in there,” Steve whispers. Dustin looks up at him in shock, the glass of the doors cold against his palms.

“Are you _crazy?_ Do you want to _die?”_

"I can stop him! He’s in human form, El’s got him weakened, we can finish this right here, right now.”

Dustin’s pulse starts kicking up at the thought of Steve fighting _that._ “You _can’t._ ”

“He’s right, Steve,” Robin says from the other side of Dustin and Erica. “Billy kicked your ass once and that was _before_ he got infected with this Upside-Down shit. Do you even have a plan?”

Steve chews his lip as he glances around the room they’re in, some kind of laboratory, lit only by the glowing capsule of green goop on a rolling metal table. A pair of thick glass doors separate them from a gasping, bloodied Billy collapsed on the floor in the better-lit next room. Just ten minutes ago they watched the monster version of him stumble through the doors, and as they sealed behind him, he went through a terrifying change from monster to human over the span of a few minutes, breaking several pipes and lights in the process. He doesn’t know they’re there; his eyes aren’t even open now. El’s done as much damage as possible and since she and the others have bigger problems at the moment, it’s just Dustin and his newfound friends.

Steve pushes away from the doors and grabs a lethal-looking syringe from a table. He unscrews the top off the capsule of green goop and dips the needle in, loading the syringe up with toxic-looking liquid. 

“Are you _serious?”_ Erica snaps. “You don’t even know if that stuff is deadly! For all _you_ know, it could be some kind of antidote or something!”

“It’s gonna be fine,” Steve says, his eyes focused on Billy in the other room like their words aren’t even hitting his ears. He tugs off his red and blue work tie and drops it to the ground. “He’s down, he’s tired – this is our best shot. I’m going in there, I’m sticking him with _this,”_ he waves the syringe at them, “and it’s _going_ to kill him. This bastard has lived long enough.”

Dustin desperately grabs hold of his sleeve. “Come _on,_ Steve – we can fight him together, he can’t take all four of us –“ His voice is breaking, his eyes are burning. He doesn’t care. 

“No, no way. You can’t go in there. If he turns into a monster again or something, all of you are dead and it’s my fault. _You can’t go in there,_ ” Steve repeats.

“Neither can you!”

“Steve…” Robin stares at him in faint disbelief and shock. Steve shakes his head.

“Guys, when have I ever lost a fight?”

All three of their jaws drop. “You’ve lost every fucking fight you’ve ever fought!” Dustin yells. “This is _insane,_ do you really think you can survive this? You’re brave, Steve, but you’re not invincible. Don’t do this, _please_.”

Steve’s eyes harden. “I have to. Don’t you get it, Dustin? This can all be over right now. Everyone will be safe again.”

“ _Don’t,_ Steve, _please._ You can’t – you – just – _please –_ “ 

Dustin’s protests fall on deaf ears as Steve steps up to Robin. She’s speechless.

“If I…if something goes wrong, get them out of here, okay?” Steve says quietly, insistently. “Promise me you’ll get them out of here, Robin.”

Dustin watches Robin swallow, her expression still shocked. “I – I promise. I will.”

“Okay. Good.” Steve faces the doors, adjusts his grip on the syringe, and takes a deep breath. He looks at Dustin and offers a cocky smile, just like last Halloween before he stepped outside the bus, and Dustin feels a hot lump lodge itself in his throat. “Trust me, Dustin. It’s gonna be fine.”

However much he doesn’t want to, Dustin nods, unable to speak for fear he’ll start crying like a toddler. Steve reaches over and presses the button that opens the doors, and they slide apart with a cold hiss.

Dustin’s heart pounds against his ribcage, his stomach rolling over as Steve steps inside and the doors close behind him, separating them. _Don’t die. Don’t die._

At the sound of Steve approaching Billy’s drooping eyes flicker open and he looks up from where he’s slumped against the wall on the floor. “Hey there, Harrington.”

“Billy,” Steve says flatly, slowly stepping closer, the syringe held defensively in his hand.

“You don’t look too great.”

“Yeah, well, it’s been a rough week.”

Billy gives a short, harsh laugh, and spits blood onto the floor. “Tell me about it.” He surveys Steve and as he does, Dustin sees something inhuman flash in his eyes, like the monster within is waking up. _Steve, please, don’t die, don’t die, come on –_ “You here to kill me?”

“That’s the plan.” They’re just mere feet away now. “Nothing personal.”

“Well, then.” Billy pulls himself to his feet, using the wall as a support. As he stands and faces off Steve, something about his attitude shifts from careless to dangerous and he suddenly looks much less vulnerable and tired than he did on the floor. It has to be the monster inside him, bracing him, ready to kill. Dustin’s never seen anyone more terrifying – Billy’s eyes are crazed and almost entirely pupil, the veins on his throat and arms bulging and black. Dustin knows what’s lurking inside him;. Billy isn’t anywhere near human anymore, despite how much he might look like it. 

There’s a tense moment of silence as they watch each other, deciding who’s going to strike first. Dustin realizes he isn’t breathing. 

Then, quick as lightning, Billy lurches forward and swings his fist at Steve’s face. All the breath leaves Dustin’s chest in one exhale as Steve ducks, narrowly avoiding sticking the syringe into his own leg, and comes up behind Billy. He aims a punch to Billy’s side but Billy moves with the reflexes of the inhuman. Before Dustin can blink, Billy’s fist connects with Steve’s jaw and Steve lets out a shout. He charges forward and then they’re locked in a fight, moving so fast Dustin can barely keep up. Punch, dodge, swing, miss, connect, kick, dodge – both of them are bloodied and furious just ten seconds in, the room filled with shouts and swears. Steve is propelled by rage alone, Dustin can see it, but whether it’s at Billy or the monster or both, he doesn’t know. Then, Billy knocks Steve’s hand and the syringe goes flying across the tile. 

“Fuck, fuck, shit, fuck, _shit –_ “ Dustin is near hyperventilating, his fingernails digging so deep into his palms he’s afraid he’s bleeding. He has to do something. He looks around and then snatches the Supercomm from Erica. “Guys – Mike, Max, anyone – code red – I repeat, code red – we need help – someone, come in – we have Billy, _come in, guys, we need help right now!”_

Deep down he knows he’s powerless, even with the radio. None of their friends could get to them fast enough. He stands there with Robin and Erica, watching as Steve is dealt punch after blow after kick by a vicious, hateful, Upside-Down infected Billy. It’s not like Steve isn’t hitting back, but he’s not the one with a malicious supernatural being putting power behind his fists. Dustin _feels_ every hit that lands on Steve. He’s on the verge of tears, and it’s getting worse every second, it’s bloodier and more painful to watch and Steve isn’t winning. Nothing is going right, nothing at all, _please, please, please._

“We have to do something,” Dustin says urgently to Robin and Erica. “We have to help him –“

“He told us to stay here,” Robin says, her eyes glued to the fight. “We can’t, Dustin.” 

“We have to –“

_“We can’t!”_

Billy is _laughing_ as he swings hit after hit onto Steve and Steve is bleeding, trying, fighting, dying, and Dustin is yelling, unable to control himself anymore, banging his fists against the glass because this isn’t right, this isn’t what was supposed to happen, how, how, how can he get these fucking doors open, he needs to get to Steve, he has to stop this, he needs to help Steve –

 _“I have to help him!”_ Dustin screams, ducking under Robin’s arm to get to the button that opens the doors. He smashes his fist against it so hard the red plastic shatters and then the doors slide apart.

Steve’s eyes land on Dustin and go wide with pure fear. He lets out a roar, kicking Billy in the shin and stumbling backwards just as Dustin races in. Dustin tries to get to Steve even though he doesn’t have a plan or a chance, just terror and a desperate need to protect his friend – he’s fully prepared to start taking Billy’s hits so that Steve can get away – but before he can move, arms come up around him and he realizes Robin is holding him back. Billy’s attention flashes to the sudden intrusion and Steve takes advantage of it, swinging his fist into Billy’s jaw. Billy blinks, as if he didn’t feel a thing, as if he isn’t capable of feeling _anything_ anymore, and then in a movement so fast that Dustin nearly misses it, he swipes the loaded syringe off the tile, yanks a bloodied and bruised Steve to him by his arm, and plunges the needle into his neck with such force that it’s more of a knife wound than an injection. Steve screams at the same time that Dustin does, their voices ringing off the walls. Steve tries to push Billy away, tries to get rid of the needle in his neck, claws at whatever he can reach. Billy is cackling, completely deranged, and Dustin is screaming himself hoarse, fighting to escape Robin’s grip because Steve is in danger, _he has to save Steve -_

Billy steps backwards, away from the fight, still laughing but devoid of any emotion. They all stare at him apprehensively, waiting for the next blow or lunge or stab, but it never comes.

“What, you need a snack break or something?” Steve jibes loudly, absolutely seething with anger. His face is blue and purple, his lips split and bleeding, his chest rising and falling with his shallow breaths. It hurts Dustin to look at him. _Why did he do this, why did he need to do this, why, why, why –_

“You’re already dead, Harrington,” Billy drawls. “No sense wasting my energy.” 

Another beat passes, the hissing flow from the broken pipes slowing down, less than half of the white LED lights still shining. Dustin’s heart is thumping a rock concert against his ribcage and the floor is swaying beneath him. The needle is still in Steve’s neck – they have to get it out, they have to stop whatever poison is flowing through his veins before he –

“See you around,” Billy finally says slowly, unnaturally, and he turns away and heads for the exit on the other side of the room. Dustin struggles against Robin, trying to get free so he can run after Billy.

“Let me go –“

“No, Dustin –“

“Let me _kill him!_ ” Dustin screams. A wild rage surges through him, spreading like wildfire and consuming every other thought, but Robin won’t let him go and half a second later, the door swings shut behind Billy and he’s gone.

“Guys?”

Dustin, Robin, and Erica whirl around simultaneously to see Steve standing there, dazed, the syringe held in his hand. Blood drips down the column of his throat and from the tip of the needle.

“Steve?” Dustin says, his voice echoing in the silence. Does he dare hope? Steve is standing, so that means he’s okay, right? He looks at Dustin and after a blank moment, a profound sadness floods his eyes. Dustin’s heart seizes up. “Steve –“

Steve’s eyes close and he drops to the ground like a stone, the syringe clattering to the tile. An agonized scream rips its way out of Dustin’s throat, something like _“No!”_ and Robin releases him. He scrambles towards Steve, falls to his knees at his best friend’s side. “No, no, no, no – wake up, Steve.” He shakes Steve’s shoulders almost violently, his chest closing up. “Steve, _wake up! You have to get up!”_

Any second now, Steve’s going to open his eyes. He’s going to take a deep breath and make some dumbass joke about how that was a close one.

But he doesn’t. He is completely, utterly still. His hair is matted with blood and splayed across the tile; a bit of lime green liquid trickles out from the spot where the syringe pierced him, mingling with dark blood. Dustin hovers over him, still waiting, waiting, because he’s going to wake up, he always does, he’s…

“Steve?” he whispers. His voice shatters before he can get the full word out, and the tears that had been brimming in his eyes now spill over like a broken dam, flowing hot and salty down his cheeks. “Steve, _please_ – we need you – come _on,_ Steve, _please –_ “ 

The truth of it hits him at every point of contact on his soul like a tidal wave. His heart splinters and fractures and falls to pieces as he stares at Steve and memories rush through his mind, memories once bright and happy and full of spring and summer and being best friends with someone cool, someone who gets Dustin, memories now permanently stained with horror and violence and death. 

He wants to throw up, kill something, tear his own feelings apart. Instead, he presses his face to Steve’s chest and cries into torn and bloodstained fabric. He should have tried harder. He should have done more, should have held Steve back or gone in with him or done _something_ to prevent this horrible, unimaginable result. _It’s my fault,_ he thinks, he knows. _All of it._ He was such a fucking idiot; why is he such a stupid _kid?_ The wave keeps slamming into him, over and over and over, dragging him down and keeping him from surfacing. 

“ _Please,_ ” he sobs, his lungs so full of grief that it’s all he’s breathing anymore. “ _Please, Steve._ ”

He can’t think, can’t feel. His entire body is trembling; his fingers are numb. Steve does not, and will not, wake up, and the loss is suffocating him from the inside out. _Why, why, why?_

What did Steve do to deserve this? 

What did Dustin do to deserve to lose him?

“ _Please._ ”

Dustin is certain he’s about to pass out. He’d be grateful for it – anything is better than this harsh, unfeeling reality. After what feels like both half a second and an eternity, the crackling of radio static reaches his ears. He lifts his head; Robin and Erica are standing there, tears silently streaming down their faces, Erica holding the Supercomm.

_“Dustin – Dustin, come in, it’s Mike – we’re on our way to help you guys – just tell us where you’re at – Dustin – Dustin, come in –“_

Dustin lets out another painful, racking sob into Steve’s chest. _Please. Please. Please._

It’s far too late; he's gone.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! I'm on tumblr, @dustinhendrsn.


End file.
